Youth employment needs to be priority

An annual tradition occurs each June in Nova Scotia. The school year comes to an end and a new group of wide-eyed graduates enters the workforce. But for many Halifax-area graduates, that transition is not an easy one.

“Whether you are graduating from high school, college or university, the work search can be daunting,” says Laurie Edwards, director, career counselling services, Nova Scotia Community College. “For young people, working on landing their first work experience — one that fits their interests and/or training — is both exciting and challenging.”

“For most, the challenge is knowing who is hiring or what jobs are available. Many jobs these days aren’t advertised and often, young people are not yet aware of the importance of building a network while they are in school.

A good network starts with their instructors, former teachers, relatives and friends, and this involves overcoming any shyness to let people know they are looking for a job. Getting practice with information interviews, talking to family and friends about their skills and talents, are great first steps to help create confidence and develop experience promoting themselves as a great potential employee.”

According to Statistics Canada, the youth unemployment rate in Nova Scotia fell in 2016 to 15 per cent from a high of 18.6 in 2012. However, that figure is still well above the national average of 13 per cent.

One of the signature recommendations of the 2014 Ivany Report is reducing the provincial youth unemployment rate to the national average.

“The employment situation for graduates hasn’t changed much over last year,” says Edwards. “Graduates who are networking, making good contacts, and being in the right place at the right time because of their job leads are more likely to find the work they want. Summer work in the service or tourism sectors, or creating their own job by starting a business, are still some of the best ways to build experiences for future opportunities.”

The need to keep skills sharp is also a reality, she adds.

“Advice to new graduates is to continue to build their essential skills in reading, document use and numeracy,” says Edwards. “All jobs these days require the use of documents and most employers expect workers to complete orientation or Occupational Health and Safety training using online information and assessments.

A post-secondary institution can serve as an important resource for continued learning and for developing new skills. Nova Scotia Community College, as an example, provides continuing education opportunities and also ensures its graduates are equipped with their portfolio experience, helping them prepare to manage their future upskilling, either on the job or returning for continuing education courses.”

A recent roundtable explored the hurdles young Haligonians face when looking for work.

“We wanted to validate that we were moving in the right direction and that our focus resonated with communities, large and small, across the country,” says Lori Smith, manager of public affairs for Atlantic Canada for RBC.

“So we held at least one roundtable in every province, with a range of stakeholders including organizations who deal with youth, mental health service providers, educators, law enforcement and, of course, youth themselves.

“ The response was overwhelmingly positive and thoroughly validated that our focus is the right one. While there were some recurring themes, each session also had its own nuances. Many participants said they’d never participated in a roundtable like this and in every session across Atlantic they asked us to hold another followup roundtable later in the year.”

Smith says some common themes came from the roundtable, such as the need for programs and services in rural areas and the need and opportunity for youth and peer mentoring programs. There was also a desire for organizations to learn more about what others are doing and find ways to partner and collaborate on tackling the information gap and working to retain young talent in the region.

Themes across the country included the fact that many young people suffer from a lack of relevant experience and skills as well as a lack of knowledge networks, she adds.

RBC has recently launched RBC Future Launch, a 10-year, $500-million initiative to help young people gain access and opportunity to the skills, job experience and career networks needed for the future world of work.

“We want to provide young people with career development support, advice and networks critical to gaining employment, including work-relevant networks, mentorships, skills assessments and relevant job matching, counselling, job coaching and job shadowing,” says Smith.